Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-09-10

4 on foot by ambitious mobiles to obtain the
/ hand Of one or other OF the queens in mar
riage had disquieted the country, and the
general opinion was that there would be
bloodshed before long
/ will now pass on to the question OF the
! Zu-Vendi religion, which is nothing more or
less than sun worship Of a pronounced and
highly developed character Around this
sun worship is grouped the entire social sys-
I tenn of the Zu-Vendi. 1t sends its roots
through every institution and custom of the
land. From the cradle TO the grave the Zu-
| Vendi follows the sun in every sense of the
word.
The priests of the sun do not marry, but
are recruited by young men specially de-
! voted to the work by their parents and sup
| ported by the state. The nomination to the
higher offices of the priesthood lies with the
crown, but once appointed, the nominees can
not be dispossessed, and it is scarcely too
much to say that they really rule the land
To begin with, they are united body sworn
to obedience and secrecy, so that an order is
sued by the high priest at Milosis will be in
stantly and unhesitatingly acted upon by the
resident priest of little country town three
or four hundred miles off. They are the
judges Of the land, criminal and civil, an ap-
peal lying only TO the lord paramount of the
district and from him to the king, and they
have, of course, practically unlimited juris-
diction over religious and moral offenses, to-
gether with right Of accommodation,
which, as in the faiths of more highly civil
lied lands, is a very effective weapon. In
deed, their rights and powers are almost
unlimited; but may as well state here that
the priests Of the sun are wise in their gen.
Grafton and do not push things too far. 1t is
but very seldom that they go to extremes
against anybody, being more inclined to ex-
ercise The prerogative Of mercy than run the
risk of exasperating the powerful and vigor-
Gus minded people on whose neck they have
set their yoke lest it should rise and break it
off altogether.
Another source of the power of the priests
is their practical monopoly Of learning, and
their very considerable astronomical knowl-
edge, which enables them to keep hold on
the popular mind by predicting eclipses and
even comets In Zu-Vendis only a few of the
upper classes can read and write, but nearly
all the priests have this knowledge, and are
therefore looked upon as learned men.
The social system of the zu-Vendi allows
considerable liberty to the individual, pro-
vided he does not offend against the laws and
customs of the country. They are polyga-
nous in theory, though most of them have
only one wife on account of the expense. By
law man is bound to provide separate
establishment for each wife. The first wife
also is the legal wife, and her children are
said to be "of the house of the father The
children of the other wives are OF the houses
OF their respective mothers. This does not,
however, imply any slur upon either mother
fret ON,
entering into the marriage state, make bar
gain that her husband shall marry no other
wife, This, however, is very rarely done, as
the women are the great upholders of polyga-
my, which not only provides for their surplus
numbers, but gives greater Importance to the
first wife, who is thus practically the head of
several households. Marriage is looked upon
rs primarily civil contract, and subject to
certain conditions and to proper provision
for children, is dissoluble at the will of both
contracting parties the divorce, or "unloos-
Ing" being formally and tremendously ac-
complished by going through certain portions
Of the marriage ceremony backward.
The Zu-Vendi are on the whole very
kindly, pleasant and light hearted people.
They are not great traders, and care little
about money, only working to earn enough
to support themselves in that class of life in
which they were born. They are exceedingly
conservative and look with disfavor on
changes Their legal tender is silver, cut into
little squares of different weights; gold is the
baser coin, and is about of the same value as
our silver 1t u.s. however, much priced for its
beauty, and largely used for ornaments and
decorative purposes. Most of the trade, how
ever, Is carried on by means of sale and bar
ter, payment being made in kind. Agricul-
ture is the great business Of the country, and
is really well understood and carried out,
most of the available acreage being under
cultivation. Great attention is also given to
the breeding of cattle and horses the latter
being unsurpassed by any I have ever seen
either in Europe or Africa.
And now comes question which / find
some difficulty in answering. Are the Zu-
Vendi civilized or a barbarous peoplel Some
times think the one, sometimes the other.
In some branches of art they have attained
the very highest proficiency. Take, for in
stance, their buildings and their statuary. /
do not think that the latter can be equaled
either in beauty or imaginative power any
where in the world; and as for the former,
it may have been rivaled In ancient Egypt,
but am sure that it has never been since.
But, on the other hand, they are totally igno-
rant of many other arts. Till Sir Henry.
who happened to know something about it,
showed them how to do it by mixing silica
and lime, they could not make piece OF
glass, and their crockery is rather primitive.
A water clock is their nearest approach to a
watch; indeed, ours delighted them exceed
ingly. They know nothing about steam,
electricity OF gunpowder, and, mercifully for
themselves, nothing about printing or the
penny post. Thus they are spared many
evils; for of truth our age has learned the
wisdom of the old world saying, ale who in
creaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow"
AS regards their religion, it is a natural one
for imaginative people, who know no better,
and might therefore be expected to turn to the
| sun and worship him ms the all father, but it
cannot justly be called elevating or spiritual.
| 1t is true that they do sometimes speak of the
sun as the garment of the spirit" but it is a